"I was really concerned," Johnson said. "Any other time, I might have let him continue. Hopefully, it's no more than a tired arm or something."

Strasburg insisted he "felt good" physically but struggled with his control.

"I couldn't throw strikes early on," Strasburg said. "I was able to kind of battle through it and keep it close."

Asked why he was shaking his arm, he said, "You just try to stay loose."

Andrelton Simmons hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, then made an eye-popping play to start the ninth as Atlanta ended its four-game losing streak.

Ian Desmond off the ninth with a slow grounder that Simmons charged. The Atlanta shortstop slipped as he fielded the ball and fell on his backside, but somehow fired a strike from the seat of his pants that first baseman Freddie Freeman caught by making a long stretch.

"That's the first time I've ever seen two guys do a split on the same play at the same time," said Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.

Desmond was called out on a close play, and disagreed with the decision. Johnson came out to argue with umpire Tim Timmons.

Eric O'Flaherty struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Strasburg walked Schafer to start the first, and he stole second and scored on Justin Upton's soft single.

Freeman followed Upton's hit with a single to left field, but took a wide turn around first and was thrown out. Gonzalez argued the call with Timmons at first base, and replays indicated Freeman's hand was on the bag before he was tagged.

Former Braves star Chipper Jones visited his former teammate and hunting buddy Adam LaRoche, now the Nationals' first baseman, before the game. Jones, who has said he has possible interest in becoming a hitting coach, watched video with LaRoche of the slumping left-handed hitter's swing.

The video review with Jones must have helped as LaRoche led off the second inning with a single to snap his 0-for-26 drought. LaRoche's hit started a string of four straight singles, including run-scoring hits by Chad Tracy and Kurt Suzuki, to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

Freeman walked to lead off the fourth, and singles by Dan Uggla and Laird made it 2-all.

Washington's Jayson Werth crumpled to the ground after fouling a ball off his left foot in the eighth. He completed his at-bat -- a strikeout -- and was replaced in right field by Roger Bernadina in the bottom of the inning.

Game notes

Washington C Wilson Ramos was activated from the 15-day DL but did not play as Johnson said he wanted to be careful not to push the strained left hamstring. C Jhonatan Solano was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. ... Schafer stole two bases. ... The series continues Tuesday night when Braves RHP Tim Hudson goes for his 200th career win, facing Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez.

Research Notes

Braves have now won 8 straight games vs the Nationals, the team's longest win streak vs the Nats/Expos franchise. They also had a 7-game win streak in 1997.

Stephen Strasburg gave up a first-inning run vs the Braves on Monday.
Strasburg has allowed more first inning runs (9) this season (6 starts) than he did in 28 starts last season (8).
Strasburg has allowed a first-inning run in 4 of 6 starts this season